Dr Rida Ahmed, Assistant Professor (Basic Sciences Department, DHA Suffa University) has recently joined Hunan University of Medicine for her one year long post-doctoral research project (http://news.hnctcm.edu.cn/news/xiaoyuanxinwen/2016-11-25/4952.html). She will be working on Quality Control and Authentication of Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) and Analytical Method Development of Natural Products, by using advanced analytical tools and techniques, such as Liquid Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (LC-NMR). The motivation behind this work has been to explore traditional Chinese medicine folk data scientifically, as this remains the most relied upon source of medical practice for the Chinese people for well over 2,000 years. Her research project will eventually help in better scientific evaluation of TCM for the quality, safety, and efficacy of these medicines. Furthermore, as these have lesser side effects and lower cost as compared to the synthetic drugs, this will encourage pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan to import scientifically proven TCMs from China at significantly lower cost as compared to the expensive active pharmaceutical ingredients imported from the rest of the world. Moreover, the trained Pakistani scientists in this field, such as herself, will be able to evaluate the folk medicines of Pakistan along similar lines. This will eventually help our local pharmaceutical industry to grow by relying on locally available medicines, resulting in research indigenisation, reducing burden on our foreign exchange reserves and providing better options for medical treatment in Pakistan.